Too Early for a Morning Swim
by OnceAponABlueMoon
Summary: Leo doesn't look too good, even Donnie's half asleep brain can see that much. A TMNT One-Shot.


**Author's Note: Hi! Blue here. This is my first piece of fanfiction so I hope it's ok. This is a One-Shot but, depending on if more inspiration hits me, I might expand the story. Please feel free to comment and enjoy reading!**

**OOOO**

Donnie might not be a morning person, he might be someone who needs about three large cups of coffee in his system to speak in coherent sentences and about twenty more hours of sleep to be remotely nice, but he does have a situational awareness that works perfectly well. It's not like he regresses into a zombie every day from 7 until 9 (or whatever Mikey might claim). He _knows_ what's going on around him, even if all he does is huff and sneer at it.

So, when his twin comes meandering into the living room, he's perfectly aware of the fact that Leo is acting a bit weird and looks slightly pale. The red-eared slider nearly walks into a pole, for goodness sake, if Donnie didn't catch that he'd be screwing off his own head and seeing if he was really doing all right. Not that his brother never did run into objects, on the contrary; it happened more often than you'd think, but the way he just limps around an almost face-plant against concrete without so much as blinking, sends alarm bells ringing in Donnie's mind.

Raph, who's reading a comic on a beanbag a few meters away, raises his eye-ridge and openly stares at their blue-banded brother for a few seconds before deciding to speak. 'You doing ok, Leo?'

It takes a good minute, a minute too long in Donnie's opinion, before Leo turns his head to Raph, blinks and gives him a pretty half-assed attempt at a grin. 'Y-yeah, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about, bro.' He waves him off, straitening himself so he didn't look like he was about to crumble in on himself the next step he took. 'Just felt a bit dizzy for a second.'

That sets off Raph's big brother protector instincts and his face overshadows in concern.

'Dizzy? Do you need to lay down? I can help you get back to bed if ya'd like-'

'I'm fine Raph.' Leo says quickly and maybe a bit too coldly from the look on his face, but he turns his back and rubs his arms with his hands. 'I'm going to go get something to eat.'

He leaves the room, the shadows of the sewer swallowing him up as he disappears from sigh. Donnie frowns because that wasn't how Leo acted normally. He shares a look with Raph, who'd actually gotten up and looked like he wanted to go after their younger brother.

'Maybe we should just give him some space?' Donnie says, his stomach twisting with unease at his own words. He gazes down at Raph from his perch on top of the skate-board ramp. 'He looked pretty high-strung.'

His elder brother opens his mouth, looking like he wants to argue, but then closes it as his eyes slide back to the dark tunnel. 'Yeah, maybe.' He whispers and Donnie is sure Raph isn't comfortable with the idea, but he seems to realise that leaving things alone might be the wisest decision. So, the larger turtle sits back down and grabs his comic, attempting to resume his reading while his leg bounces impatiently against the floor.

Donnie goes back to his phone and sips at his lukewarm, highly caffeinated beverage, the coffee leaving an unfamiliar and strangely bitter after-taste in his mouth.

**OOOO**

By the time Leo returns, an hour has passed. Raph had decided to grab some weights and was busy lifting them when their blue-banded brother came in. Mikey, who had joined Donnie and Raph in the living room about thirty minutes ago, smiles at his immediate older brother and gives him a salute while moving to the music he's listening to with his head-phones. Leo gives him a soft wave back and walks towards an empty bean-chair.

Donnie watches the exchange with a curious eye. He's still not entirely sure what's bothering his twin but, at the moment at least, everything seemed to be fine.

Except it _wasn't_.

It happens slowly and the genius of the family should have had enough freaking warning signs to know what was going to happen and act on it but he didn't. He just sat there, frozen, as if he were watching a movie and the scene playing in front of his eyes wasn't actually taking place.

Leo sways. His left foot immediately juts out in order to compensate for the over-balance but it doesn't fully reach its goal, causing the turtle to stumble. He then brings his hand to his head, not quite making contact as if there was a phantom pain holding him back. The next second his eyes roll back and his knees give out and he falls.

A splash echoes like a scream through the lair as Leo drops off the ledge of the island living room.

Mikey lets out a surprised yelp, Raph loses his grip on his dumbbell and Donnie...Donnie's already mid-dive.

Water hits him with a hard slap and bubbles explode from his figure but the only thing he's actually focused on is the outline of his twin sinking to the pool floor and the cold hard fact that Leo _isn't _moving. With a speed that would do his species proud, Donnie propels himself forward and grabs his brother's wrist, pulling the turtle towards him and seizing him by the waist.

The moment the two of them resurface, large hands wrap around their shells and they are hoisted up out of the water. Raph lays them down in a hurry, eyes wide with panic, while a pale Mikey jumps around them like a frantic deer.

Donnie doesn't waist a second, scrambling to his knees and hovering over Leo. He checks his twin's pulse and breaths out in relief when he finds one. Proceeding to then place his ear by Leo's mouth, he waits to hear breathing. There's nothing.

Horror grips around his throat like a wild beast and Donnie has to force himself to breath before _his_ light go out. CPR wasn't something he'd actually done before but he had read about it enough to understand what he needed to do. So now he's pressing down on his brother chest, while his own heart is thumping like a runaway train and he's thinking: _wake the shell up Leo or I'm going to strangle you_. Which, logically speaking, wasn't rational but, hey, the logical and rational part of Donnie's brain was still asleep.

Luckily, the medical knowledge part seemed to be doing just fine.

Leo coughs, water running out of his mouth as he hacks for breath. Donnie immediately helps his brother twist around as the turtle turns ghostly lime and proceeds to empty his stomach of a lot more than just the sewage gunk he had swallowed. When he's done, Leo is trembling and looks almost like he's about to pass out again but he's _breathing_, a little too quickly maybe but still, Leo's taking in air and expelling it and for that the purple clad turtle is grateful.

A wheeze sounds and Donnie glances over as Mikey drops to his knees, shaking with adrenaline. Raph doesn't need long to follow and then all four turtles are sitting on the floor.

'W-what...?' Their eldest brother stumbles over his words, hands moving through the air as if he isn't quite sure what to do with them. Eventually, he settles for rolling them up into fists and pressing them harshly against his thighs. 'What just happened?'

'Dude, bro, Leo, are...are you ok? Mikey whispers, bending over to try and have a look at his brother's face.

All three turtles wait patiently for the last member of their group to speak. It takes a while, but eventually a soft laugh slips past Leo's lips.

'Umm, well, kinda, I think?' He says and Donnie is about to smack some sense into his twin because after what just happened he isn't "kinda" ok, but then Leo continues and he decides he doesn't have to take such drastic measures. 'Actually, no.' He presses his eyes shut. 'I'm not doing so hot.'

'Well, duh.' Donnie folds his arms across his chest and frowns. 'You just fainted, nearly drowned and threw up everything you had for breakfast. It doesn't take a genius to figure out you are indeed not ok.'

Leo tilts his head to the side, glancing at Donnie with something akin to mirth gleaming in his orbs. 'Such wisdom.' He teases, sticking out his tongue for good measure.

Donnie can't help but feel like the weight of the world was just lifted off his shoulders; if his brother could quip then he was going to be fine, even if he did need to be on bedrest for the next week.

His elder brother seemed to share the sentiment as, in one big motion, Raph scoops up Mikey, Leo and Donnie in his arms and pulls them all half onto his lap. His embrace is warm and comforting and, after what just happened, Donnie won't comment on how his big brother is trembling like a leaf in an august storm. Raph lowers his head and takes a deep breath, then he turns his eyes to the blue-banded turtle. 'You are forbidden from scaring us like that ever again, Leon. Next time you feel dizzy, or nauseous or even a bit weird you tell us because I do not want you dropping off another ledge, _ever_.' His gaze is hard but filled with concern and relief.

Leo nods, his body slumping against Donnie. The soft-shell can feel the heat emitting from his brother's skin but he decides that, just for a few minutes, the four of them can lay here, before he sends Leo to his room and gives him a full body scan.

'Yeah bro,' Mikey laughs, if a bit shakily. 'It's way too early for a morning swim.'

Leo smiles, letting his head rest against Donnie's shoulder.

'Yeah,' He sighs. 'I guess it is.'

**OOOO**

It takes a good ten minutes before any of them move from their huddled-up position, but when they do everything happens as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Raph carries Leo, who's half asleep, to his room and tucks him into bed, Mikey runs off saying he was going to make some chicken-noodles soup before disappearing into the kitchen and Donnie grabs his medical equipment and prods his brother with it.

'Your temperature is way too high.' The soft-shell says more to himself than to his twin as he takes away the thermometer. 'I'm going to give you some ibuprofen, that will reduce your fever.'

He turns away but halts in place when a three-fingered hand latches onto his wrist. Donnie glances back at his brother and raises an eyebrow at him.

Leo looks up at him with determination and tightens his hold. 'Thanks,' He breathes. 'Thanks for jumping in after me.'

Donnie stares for a moment but then gives his twin a half-smile. 'Don't mention it numbskull.' He says, placing his free hand on Leo's and giving it a gentle squeeze before pulling away. The purple-banded turtle grabs the medicine and waits as his twin takes it. Once all is done, he pulls a blanket over Leo and tells him to sleep. The red-eared slider nods and smiles, closing his eyes as Donnie makes his way out of the room.

At the doorway, the turtle pauses and glances back at his twin. Shaking his head, he sighs and rolls his eyes; because it really wasn't worth mentioning.

Donnie would always jump after his brothers, even if they stupidly decided to fall off the edge of the living room and into the pool.


End file.
